Just Bruised
by conspirazee
Summary: Post Season 2. Annie thought that she had finally found something in Liam that was very much against his bad boy façade. But maybe she was wrong, again.
1. Chapter 1

_Nobody cares about what I did, or what I was about to say. All this time, it feels like I've been doing this all by myself; I've been carrying this burden on my shoulders for as long as I can remember and even my parents refuse to hear me out. Liam has finally convinced me that it'd be best to come clean about the hit-and-run. But my parents told me that we couldn't talk then._

Annie slammed the bedroom door behind her, her face looking flushed as tears raced down her face. All she wanted was her parents to hear what she had to say. Annie's secret had been buried deep in her and it was about time she revealed the truth to them, because at present, she really did not know what else to do. Annie could not live with herself any longer. Each and every day, the memory of running over Jasper's uncle haunted her. And to make matters worse, Jasper often made sure she did not forget about it. While he may have toned down slightly on the crazy, manipulative behaviour, Jasper still occasionally followed Annie around. He had professed that he had fallen for her, but Annie could definitely not return the feelings.

'Just give me a call if you need anything.' Annie recalled Liam saying that just before he dropped her off less than ten minutes ago. Back then, Annie thought that her phone call to Liam was to reveal the outcome of her talk with her parents. But apparently, she was still at square one; her secret was still kept and her parents still had no clue. Annie dialled his number; as of recently, calling Liam seemed to be like a reflex action whenever she needed someone to talk to. That night, surprisingly, Annie had reached his voicemail. 'Liam here; can't pick up. Drop me a message if you have to.'

It felt as though her heart was being pulled in every single direction. Even Liam decided not to answer the phone. Seriously, did anyone care about Annie at all? She was using up all her strength to fight back the tears, but her emotions betrayed her badly. It took Annie a long while to comprehend the whole situation she was in. In her head, there were so many voices just screaming out loud – there were her own nagging thoughts and Liam's false promises – and add on to that, Annie could actually hear her parents arguing in the kitchen. It was all too much for Annie to take that night, and after several hours she eventually drifted off to a restless, exhausting sleep.

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Annie felt no better the next morning. Her head was throbbing from all the weeping last night and there was no doubt that her eyes were slightly swollen. She felt no inclination to get up from bed to get ready for school. Somehow, it felt like a hangover – except Annie was sure there was not even an ounce of alcohol in her system but the cause of it, rather, was a disappointed, broken heart.

"Annie, get up right now or you'll be late for school!"

The teenager immediately groaned upon hearing her mother's voice. As of lately, she had not been much of a mother figure to herself and Dixon. Annie and Dixon knew better than to push her buttons these days and really, it was just a lot easier to avoid her and Mr Wilson as well. Anyway, Annie eventually dragged herself out of bed and managed to get herself ready for school.

She was not exactly sure why, but Annie was nervous at the prospect of maybe seeing Liam today. She had not felt nervous the past week whenever he approached her, but on that day, Annie was unsure if bumping into Liam would be the best idea. Annie pretty much spent her day like a spirit; just floating around but she had barely spoken two words to anyone at all. Fortunately for Annie, none of the other girls had come looking for her so had been left alone with her own crazy thoughts. And maybe fortunately for her as well, Liam was still not in sight.

Annie paused at her locker. She had probably been staring at the same spot for a while now but nobody seemed to bother to interrupt her supposed daydream. She did snap, however, upon hearing a male voice. Annie jumped the moment her thoughts were interrupted; mostly because she was afraid that it would be Liam. But she knew that voice too well.

The Wilson daughter bit her lip and slowly turned around to see Jasper standing right in front of her. He was still with his crutches like how Annie had seen him the previous day but the only difference was that Jasper's face was covered in bruises this time.

"What happened to you?" she asked with genuine concern, upon looking at the blue-black rings under his right eye and near the jaw.

Jasper shook his head, an indication that he was not going to answer the question. His next few statements though, sent a chill running down Annie's spine. "He's no good for you, Annie. You deserve someone better than that badass."

In all honesty, the girl had no idea about whom or what her ex-boyfriend was talking about. She did not know that Jasper was around at the dock while Annie and Liam were having their own pity party in Liam's boat the evening before. She did not know that Jasper had been watching them for several hours, jealousy and anger just building up in him the whole time. And she definitely did not know that he had set fire to Liam's boat. Jasper had started to walk away just as quickly as he had approached her. Annie still yelled over to him anyway, hoping she would get some kind of explanation or clarification. "What are you talking about, Jasper?"

He stopped dead in his tracks, but made no immediate decision to turn around. He looked slightly to his left, just enough for Annie to see his face without him having to look right at her. The response he offered did not give Annie any comfort at all. "You know exactly who, Annie. But I'm glad that you're probably not going to see him around anymore."


	2. Chapter 2

_Jasper couldn't have possibly known about Liam's coin-stealing incident. But why do I have a feeling that Liam was the one who had attacked Jasper? How else can I possibly explain the bruises, and the warning Jasper gave me a few days ago? This is killing me; this issue has been running back and forth in my mind. It's so exhausting._

Annie bit her lower lip the moment she spotted Jasper in the hallway. He hadn't seen her approaching, but clearly he was pleasantly surprised upon hearing Annie calling out his name.

"Oh hey, Annie. I didn't see you coming," he replied, a wide grin on his face. It was definitely a good kind of surprise for him. Jasper was usually the one chasing after Annie and he often received only hostility from her. But for Annie to approach him at her own will was possibly enough for Jasper to feel out of the world.

Annie, on the other hand, disliked having to walk up to Jasper that way. But she felt that she needed some answers. She dismissed Jasper's greeting and dived straight into the conversation.

"Who did this to you, Jasper? Who attacked you?"

The smile on the lad's face disappeared just as swiftly as it had been formed. He obviously did not like the idea that the only reason Annie was concerned was because Liam was probably behind the whole fiasco. Jasper looked away, disappointment washed all over his face. He took a deep breath before boldly looking straight at Annie once more.

"Listen, Annie. You know well that the only person who would do this to me is Liam. He came right at me, throwing punches in my face," Jasper monotonously explained. "I was helpless; there was no way I could defend myself in the state I'm in."

Annie's jaw dropped, tears collecting in her eyes. For a moment, she refused to believe that Liam would do such a thing to Jasper. Poor, innocent Jasper in the crutches. He had obviously lied nearly throughout the whole conversation, but Annie didn't know that, of course. Her heart sank. She felt distraught about hearing Liam's unjustified actions. Jasper reached his left hand out to touch Annie's wrist.

"He's dangerous, Annie," he began, again with the warning like he had told the Wilson daughter a few days ago. "Who knows if he'll do this to you? I, on the other hand … I would never, ever hurt you, Annie."

Annie immediately pulled her hand away. Looking utterly upset, all that she could afford to say to him was, "Don't touch me, Jasper. Just leave me alone." Without waiting for any kind of response from her ex-boyfriend, Annie walked back in the direction she came from, tears about to fall.

All this while, she thought she had Liam figured out. That he was just holding up a bad image of himself to cover up for his past mistakes. Annie thought that he was genuinely a sincere person who was ready to move on from his bad past. However, clearly she was proven wrong because Jasper was bruised and there was no excuse for anyone to attack a helpless person.

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Annie had made up her mind to confront Liam about Jasper's incident. Sure, he hadn't been showing up to school in the past week but she was almost positive that he would be at home. Liam was acting like such a coward. First, he had attacked an innocent guy, but to hide from it and not admit his mistake? He was sure serious about coming clean. Annie almost felt disgusted that she had thought he was someone so different than he appeared to be.

The teenage girl stormed right up to Liam's garage. She wasn't such a stranger to that place anymore; she frequently visited the garage to help Liam complete his boat. But she was there at his hideout for a whole other reason that day. Without even knocking on the door, Annie marched in screaming, "Screw you, Liam!"

Annie gasped. The person standing across the other side of the garage was not Liam at all. In fact, he was so much worse. The man with a small smirk on his face was none other than Liam's stepdad. "Well, whatever that he did, be assured that Liam will face the music. He'll definitely pay for what he did."

She could not say another word. Annie's mouth was wide open, but her voice could not be heard. The garage was nearly empty now, and Liam's stepfather was practically throwing out every single thing his hands came in contact with.

"He … Liam didn't mean it, sr. Liam didn't steal your coins on purpose. I mean, it wasn't … it wasn't for himself or anything," Annie breathlessly mumbled. She had assumed that Liam was chased out of the house because he had finally confessed like he said he would. If Annie was not terrified enough, the reaction of the man in front of her simply shook her.

Well, she had assumed wrong, again.

"He did what?" Liam's stepfather had his fists balled up, his face turning red. "So he was the one who took my coins? That boy has crossed the line!"

In an instant, Annie heard the garage door open. She turned around and – surprise surprise – Liam was at the door. Liam held no expression on his face. There was probably a whole mix of confusion, and frustration, and annoyance but the boy did not show it like he normally would. He didn't even look surprised that Annie was standing in there. Jasper had heard the entire thing just before he had walked into the garage.

"I'm sorry, Liam," Annie squeaked. "I didn't know."

A booming voice interrupted the teenagers' thoughts. "Liam, I'm sending you out of the country! I told you if you didn't get your ass together you'd be sent to military school. But now I heard you stole part of my coin collection and that just does it!"

Annie felt extremely guilty then. Her heart felt heavier than when she had walked in. "Don't do that, please! He … he wouldn't have done it …" she herself felt defeated in the conversation. Annie could not continue with her sentence and she didn't know if she was being any help at all to Liam. Judging from his response afterwards, though, the girl was positive that she had made no improvement in the situation.

"Just leave, Annie," Liam told her, in a low voice. He was absolutely positive that he was in so much deeper trouble then. And he didn't want Annie to know of what would be the outcome of his actions. He didn't want her to know of the undeniable punishments he would receive from his stepdad. In other words, Liam had admitted defeat.

Annie dragged her feet slowly. She could not take her eyes off Liam's face. On one hand, she could not comprehend why he had no expressions, why he had barely uttered a word to her apart from asking her to leave. But on the other, Annie felt like she needed to do something about it since Liam's world had crashed under his feet and that she was responsible for it. Annie opened her mouth, maybe to apologise once more of the way she had blurted out his secret; however, Liam refused to hear any of it. He simply shook his head and gestured towards the door.

Whatever the outcomes Liam had to face – military school or being sent out of the country – he didn't want Annie to hear of it and feel upset about it. He had brought this by himself; all his mistakes were chasing after him now, it was his own entire fault. And perhaps Liam was ready to accept the consequences, even if it means chasing Annie out of his garage, and out of his life.


End file.
